First concern with my manual transmission

I'm new to the forum, and wanted to add in my experience with the sticky clutch. I experienced the same thing on a couple of recent trips, at home my Taco sleeps in the garage, and having never owned a Taco before I was not sure if this was normal behavior or not. The first time it happened was on a 10 degree morning, and I thought I'd break my leg engaging the clutch to start the engine that morning. I will be bringing this to the attention of the service department soon.

Other than this, I love the MT in this truck.

 

One reason why I love my Viper Remote start in my truck!!!

 

The one thing i have been trying to diagnose with this clutch is what actually makes it go away.
I am not sure if it is when the engine warms up, if it is when the clutch system warms up, or if it is when the clutch components in the cabin warm up. I will be testing which it is.

 

Once the motor gets somewhat warm it will eventually heat up the transmission for sure!!!

 

It doesn't sound like a transmission issue , more like the slave system hydraulics.

 

I'm going with slave cylinder.

I previously lived where we saw -25F during the winters (BTW I F'ING hate cold weather) and had the same issues with Honda & Toyota products. I would always just warm them up...

My experience with block heaters is limited to diesel products. Ford F series PowerStokes & VW TDis. With those, it would warm the block enough so the heat would provide just warm air on start up but not close to normal operating temperature...not sure about gas or Toyota products.

The oddest thing in reading this thread is that your truck (year, model & problem) is unique in having the problem (unless I've missed some post) which I would find concerning.

Good luck, I'll follow this thread for updates (not that I will ever live in cold climates by choice again).

 

I had this issue on my '07 with the 6 speed manual, every winter in the mountains of Oregon. Each night that it would get down below about freezing I'd notice the clutch sticking like you describe. Clutch function is fine, but the pedal itself almost sticks to the floor and then pops back. The strange thing is my '03 Tacoma with a manual trans never did this, it would get stiffer in the cold, but never stick like the clutch on the '07 I had. I lived with it for the 4 years I had the truck, never found a definitive solution

 

Wonder if it is the rubber boots on the master and slave cylinders getting stiff in the cold causing your issue???

 

Maybe. I almost think it is sone thing inside the cab. I have been trying to figure out a way to heat the cab up without heating up the outside parts of the clutch.

 

Space heater in floor board... I Do this on the regular. I drive a Cummins takes 30 miles for the thermostat to open on the damn thing.

 

My '13 5-speed did this in VERY cold weather once in awhile. A minute or two and it was gone. The actual clutch function was not effected at all.

 

To add my $.02 , mine will do the same thing when the weather gets colder. It's a bit slow on a 10 degree day...majorly slow on a -10 degree day. I generally warm the truck up for a few minutes before I start out, and I just pump the clutch a few times when I first get in, and a few more before I leave. Seems to work alright, and everything is fine once the engine/ transmission warms to operating temp. My guess would be that everyone is right, to a certain extent. All of the grease in the pivot points, plus the fluid, plus the master cylinder itself and the throwout bearing are ALL cold, and would create some drag on the system. Add it all up , and there ya go.

 

After the cold weather this weekend, I'm going to have to say its something in the clutch pedal assembly inside the truck. I've come to this conclusion because the condition goes away faster when I set the HVAC controls to the floor output and send heat there faster.

I've also noticed that when driving in the same gear for a long time while it was cold outside, it was difficult to get it out of gear and switch gears for one or two gear changes, almost like the shift linkage was freezing up. Happened to me a few times, but goes away very quickly.